Hearing the Call
by SkullKing223
Summary: J'ala, guildmaster of the Theives Guild, had heard the call of a nearby dragon and her own dragon soul forces her into action. *Partially inspired by Dragonborn DLC, no major spoliers*


Hearing the Call

*Skyrim is a product of Bethesda and I own none of the original Skyrim content. Certain characters, dialogue lines, etc. are my own. No copyright infringement intended!*

**Hello dear readers! My second one-shot here, yet again with J'ala :) Without further ado, here it is!**

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Striding through the bustling streets of Riften, J'ala spotted her mark; a young Argonian traveller staying at the Bee and Barb. Her pockets were loose and stuck out, an obvious give-away that she had coin, and her hide armour looked new and barely used, as though she'd bought it from the smith that very day. She stopped suddenly and bent down, and J'ala could see in her mind the woman's scaley fingers reaching for the coin. J'ala smirked. _She took the bait._ J'ala darted forward with the speed of an arrow, her gift from Nocturnal keeping her hidden from even the most trained of eyes. As she reached the Argonian, she reached forward towards her pocket and dipped her feline paw into it, careful not to make contact with the leg. Pulling the coin purse out with the precision of a master thief, J'ala grinned at the still crouching Argonian._ Using Ice poison to freeze coins to the ground is very handy... _

She jogged back a bit, retreating into the graveyard. J'ala finally released the spell, and her slim, well built body was revealed once again. She grinned ever wider, then turned to the dank crypt that led to the Cistern, but then... So quiet it was almost inaudible even to J'ala's sensitive ears, the distant roar of a dragon could be heard echoing across the Rift. J'ala tensed, the dragon soul within her calling for it's kindred spirit to be absorbed within her. Immediately forgetting about the job, J'ala raced down into the cistern, throwing the coin purse in Brynjolf's vague direction and making a beeline for her glass armour. Nightingale armour was all well and good, but nothing quite beat glass for fighting a dragon, at least in her experience. Nobody in the Cistern even batted an eyelid. This had happened _far_ too often. J'ala quickly changed, hissing at the men to avert their eyes, and sped out of the Cistern before Brynjolf had even finished emptying the coin purse. She sped through Riften, not caring about the curses she got from people she bumped into, and skidded to a halt right before the gate.

"Oh, it's _you_," the guard spat, glaring beneath his helmet. "Your guild buddies may've bailed you out, but I didn't forget that little stunt in the market place. You're under arrest for thieving, _cat_!" Just as J'ala was about to respond with something suitably insulting and witty, a red beam of energy sizzled it's way from a nearby rooftop and made contact with the guard. He cried out and turned away from J'ala, drawing his sword, and charged at his comrade.

"Hey!" the other guard cried, "What in Oblivion are you doing?!" He drew his own sword and parried his friends blow as they began a deadly dance. J'ala glanced up at the roof, saw Karliah grinning at her, and rolled her eyes. She took advantage of the distraction and slipped through the gates, spotting her flint-coloured horse almost immediately. Running forward and mounting him, J'ala urged him forward into a gallop that took her out of sight of Riften within minutes.

She saw the dragon, a green-skinned monstrosity, circling above Shor's Stone and slowed her horse's pace. She drew her slender black blow, an exquisite weapon of swirling ebony, radiating power and beauty, and pulled a finely made arrow of elven design from it's quiver and slotted it into the bowstring, pulling it back to her ear. She breathed out slowly, aiming for a gap in the plating of the ever decreasing shape of the dragon. The bow gave a soft _whump_ as the arrow flew majestically towards her adversary. It gave a loud, agonised roar as the arrow hit home. If she was lucky, the arrow might've embedded itself in the dragon's stomach. It swirled around, giving off another deafening wail as it shot towards the town, pulling up sharply to hover above J'ala, it's lizard-like face twisted into a snarl. It drew a breath and J'ala did the same, their Thu'um uttered in unison.

"_YOL_!"

The fiery force of the combined shouts sped towards each other, coming into contact in the air with a loud explosion. A gigantic plume of smoke billowed from the epicentre, the force created by the impact pushing and spreading it across the town. J'ala coughed as the smoke reached her and she staggered around, desperately looking for air. She stumbled blindly, hearing a loud crash as the dragon landed somewhere. Breathing in as much air as she could, and almost drowning herself in smoke as she did so, J'ala gasped, "_Lok... Vah... Koor..._!" The smoke around her dissipated instantly, giving J'ala air. She fell to her knees and sucked in her salvation, aware that the dragon was behind her. It breathed in deeply, and began to shout. J'ala lunged sideways at the last moment, bringing her bow up again and shooting for the dragon's animalistic eye. It looked like it would hit, but the dragon moved at the last moment, the golden arrow bouncing from it's ridged nose. It gave a crazed roar as it turned to her once more, lunging it's scaled head forward to try and bite her, it's dirtied fangs dripping with saliva. J'ala flicked a small, rusted iron dagger from the strap on her chest and flung it forward into the dragon's gaping mouth. The dagger sliced through the roof of the dragon's mouth and it screeched once again, drawing it's head back sharply. J'ala charged forward, drawing another arrow but not bothering with the bow. With as much force as she could muster, she rammed the gleaming golden tip of the arrow into the dragon's eye, then used her other hand to shove it in deeper. The dragon thrashed wildly, the arrow piercing it's brain, and J'ala was flung backwards into a nearby tree, her glass armour protecting her from the worst of the damage. Covered in soot and the dragon's blood, J'ala slumped to the ground as the dragon slowly burned away to nothing but a skeleton. She awaited the soul, waited for it's tendrils to find her and be absorbed into her, when-

"I'm afraid not, Dragonborn." J'ala whipped her head around in surprise to see a figure standing a small distance away. Her eyes widened as the dragon soul found it's way to him instead, it's power filling him, making him grow stronger. _Another Dragonborn?!_

"Nicely done, by the way," he said, sounding sincere, "You seem to be accustomed to fighting these things." J'ala frowned, looking him up and down. He wasn't Argonian or Kahjiit, as he didn't have a tail, and he was obviously male, but she couldn't figure out anything else. Her gaze flickered back to his masked face as her continued.

"You seem like a challenge, you know. Tell you what, seek me out in a place called Solstheim. I look forward to doing business with you." J'ala could tell he was smiling as he disappeared, leaving her alone with the gawking townsfolk emerging from their houses. _Who in Oblivion was he?_

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**So, who do you think that was? Anyone who's played the Dragonborn DLC should know this easily. I hoped you enjoyed, and I'd be delighted if you gave a review! See you next time :)**


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